
Gass tAtd 
Book__21^iL. 



^tSi 



xtvoB upon tl)c present Crisis. H 



I 



DISCOURSE, 



DELIVERED IN 



ST. PETER'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON, 1 



ON TH<p 6th of DECEMBER, 1850, 



DAY OF FASTING, HUMILIATION, AND PRAYER, 



APPOINTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OP SOUTH-CAROLINA. 



By WM. H. BARNWELL. 



RECTOH OF SAID CHDRCH- 



PUBLISH BU BY REaUEST 



^ CHARLESTON: 

f LETTER.PRESS OF E. C. COUNCELL, 119 EAST BAY. 

m 1850. 







v?v5 



btetos upon tf)C present drisia. 



D I S C O U R 



DELIVERED IN 




ST. PETER'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON, 

ON THE 6th of DECEMBER, 1850, 



THE 



DAY OF FASTING, HUMILIATION, AND PRAYER, 

APPOmTED BY THE LEGISLITDRE OF SOUTH-CAROLINA. 



By WM. H. BARNWELL, 

KECTOR OF SAID CHURCH. 



PUBLISHED BY REaUEST. 



CHARLESTON- / 

LETTER.PRESS OF E. C. COUNCELL, 119 EAST BAY. 
''I'^ 1850. 






Reverend and Dear Sir : — 

The undersigned, of your congregation, who were so fortunate 
as to listen to your masterly effort to-day, in behalf of the cause of our be- 
loved State, which now excites so painfully its length and breadth, being 
thoroughly impressed with the belief that the publication of your discourse 
would be of essential service to ,that cause, are induced respectfully to ask 
you to favor them with a copy of the same, that they may have it published 
forthwith — and thereby confer a great favor upon us all, who are, 
With profound respect and esteem, 

Yours most truly, 

CHARLES EDMONDSTON, 
JAMES LEGARE, 
HOPSON PINCKNEY, 
ROBERT A. PRINGLE, 
C. A. DeSAUSSURE, 
G. A. TRENHOLM. 
Friday, 6th December, 1850. 



Gentlemen : — 

Be pleased to accept my acknowledgments for the flattering terms 
in which you speak of the discourse delivered at St. Peter's to-day. 

In compliance with your request the manuscript is placed at your disposal. 
With sincere regard. 

Your friend and Pastor, 

WM. H. BARNWELL. 
December 6th, 1850. 



TO HIS EXCELLENCY, 

THE HON. WHITEMARSH E. SEABROOK, 

GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF SOUTH-CAROLINA, 

THIS DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED ON THE OCCASION OF THE DAY OF FASTING, HUMILIATION, AND PRAY- 
ER, APPOINTED BY THE LEGISLATDRE AT HIS SUGGESTION; AND 
PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CONGREGATION OF 
ST. PETER'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON, 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 

IN TOKEN OF THE AUTHOr's HIGH REGARD FOR HIS 
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE VIRTUES, 

BY HIS FRIEND AND FELLOW-CITIZEN, 

WM. H. BARNWELL. 

Charleston, December 7, 1850. 



DISCOURSE. 



1st Kings, 20th, 11th, — And the King of Israel answered, and said, — 
Tell him : — Let not hira that girdeth on his harness, boast himself as he 
that putteth it off. 

This was the message of Ahab to Ben-hadad, — and it seems 
to me not imsuited to the occasion which has convened us. 

The commonwealth of which we are citizens, has been 
threatened by those who wield the power of the General Govern- 
ment. The Legislature, now in session, has appointed, at the 
suggestion of the Governor, a day of Fasting, Humiliation and 
Prayer, that the Divine Guidance may be imparted to that 
body, " in devising such measures as will conduce to the best in- 
terests and welfare of our beloved State." In compliance with 
the request made in the Executive Proclamation, that the Cler- 
gy throughout the State assemble their respective congregations 
to-day, to unite in Prayer to Almighty God for His direction 
and aid, I have, at some personal inconvenience, returned to 
the city, that I might conduct your devotions, and suggest such 
thoughts as seem to me befitting the occasion. 

I make no apology for entering upon the great political ques- 
tion which is agitating the country. 

For the past, the present, and the future, I claim as deep an 
interest in all that concerns my native State, as most of her 
sons ; and I see no reason why I should withhold from you 
the views I entertain at this crisis. If they seem to you wrong, 
you will pray that they may be rectified. If right, that they 
may prevail. 

That South-Carolina has been formally threatened at present 
by the General Government, I do not affirm, — but he must 
have cast an unobservant eye upon the current of public af- 
fairs, who does not discover a covert, but decided menace on 
the part of those in authority, to prohibit, by force, the ex- 
ercise of her unquestionable right, to resume the powers del- 



6 

egated to the General Government, and secede from the Union, 
if she sees fit. Had I the destinies of the State in my hands, 
instead of yielding to this menace, my answer would be that of 
Ahab, to the haughty Syrian, who boasted that the dust of Sa- 
maria could not suffice for handfuls for all the people that fol- 
lowed him. " Tell him, — Let not him that girdeth on his har- 
ness, boast himself as he that ]nitteth it off." 

A few reasons why I think the menace of the General Gov- 
ernment, ought not to be regarded, will lead us to one or two 
words of caution against prevailing evils. 

In the present controversy with the South, the General 
Government is a Usurper. The institution of slavery is guar- 
anteed by the Federal Constitution. The General Government 
only exists in virtue of that Constitution. By the very terms 
of that instrument, powers not delegated to the General Gov- 
ernment are reserved to the States. When, then, that Govern- 
ment is not only derelict in enforcing the guarantees of the Con- 
stitution, but invades the reserved rights of the States, it is 
nothing more or less than an Usurper. It is deliberately de- 
priving the Sovereign States, which compose the Union, of that 
security which they expected to derive from it, and degrading 
them, by a denial of their authority to determine for themselves, 
whether or not, they intended to delegate the powers in dispute. 
It will not do, to say, that if each State is to judge for herself 
in a question of usurped power, the Union would be a rope of 
sand. If each State is not to judge for herself, what rights she 
meant to delegate to the General Government, who is to judge 
for her? The General Government? Where, then, the use of 
that clause which reserves any rights to the States ? If the 
Government is the sole judge of the limitations of its powers, 
those limitations become a mere name. Is the Supreme Court 
the proper tribunal ? In legal questions in matter of property, 
" meum et tuutn" it is. But in questions of political power, 
where the rights not of individuals only, but of Sovereign 
States are concerned, to admit, as final umpire, a tribunal whose 
officers are appointed by, and dependent on, one of the parties 
for their maintenance and continuance in office, would be a sin- 
gular mode of arbitration. 

A question of private property, may involve one of political 



power, and may thus be properly brought before the Supreme 
Court, and the decision of that Court, may be final between 
the individuals concerned. But the State whose political rights 
are incidentally implicated, is no more aifected by that decision, 
than it would be by one of an Ecclesiastical Court. 

Indeed, an illustration of the case may be taken from Ecclesi- 
astical affairs. Suppose that a question of property should 
arise between the Vestry of a Church, and private individuals. 
It could be carried before the legal tribunals, and the decision 
would be conclusive, as to question of property involved, and the 
Court in coming to its conclusion, might settle for itself, many 
Ecclesiastical points. But none of these determinations would 
be binding upon the Church at large. It would have a perfect 
right to deny the validity of such exparte decisions ; and to in- 
sist, that the civil tribunals have no authority, whatever, to in- 
terfere with Ecclesiastical rights, considered as such. So far as 
the rights of an Ecclesiastical body are corporate, they of course, 
are under the jurisdiction of the civil tribunals ; but so far as 
they are spiritual, or Ecclesiastical, they are only under the con- 
trol of Ecclesiastical authority. Take for instance the observ- 
ance of this very day. Had the Legislature imposed a fine upon 
every Clergyman, who did not observe it, such a proceeding 
would have been clearly unconstitutional, and an act of glaring 
usurpation. Equally so, is it to my mind, for the General Govern- 
ment to interfere with matters which belong exclusively to the 
States. Nor do I conceive, that the usurpation could be at all 
legalized by a decision in its favor by its own tribunal, the Court 
of Appeals. 

Believing then as I do, that in this whole crusade against the 
institutions of the South, which the General Government is wa- 
ging, it is acting the part of a Usurper ; and believing that God 
is the God of Truth and Righteousness, and is opposed to usur- 
pation, I would have our State do anything but acquiesce in 
the right of the Federal Authority, to coerce her. 

But another reason for this opinion, is, that the General Gov- 
ernment is dependent upon public sentiment for its strength, 
and public sentiment is against the coercion of a State. 

The failure to enforce the Fugitive Slave Bill, in Massachu- 
setts proves, to some extent, both of these positions. The pub- 



8 

lie sentiment of the North, was against the law, and though 
the Federal Executive is said to have threatened its enforce- 
ment ; it has not been done, and it will not be done. Except 
in terrorem the law is a dead letter ; and its repeal is the tocsin 
of party in the Northern States. And had the Law been sol- 
emnly declared " null and void " by the State of Massachusetts, 
convened in its sovereign capacity, and not by private assem- 
blages of citizens merely, it is probable that even the Southern 
States would have objected to the power of the General Gov- 
ernment being employed to coerce that venerable common- 
wealth, until the Conventions of the diiferent States should de- 
termine whether she should submit, or secede from the Union. 

True, the public sentiment of the country and of the world 
is against the institution of slavery ; and if its abolition de- 
pended upon the vote of mere majorities, it would be voted 
down to-morrow. True, South-Carolina is not in the best odor 
among her co-States ; and many would, perhaps, rejoice at her 
humiliation. Even her sisters of the South, might not be alto- 
gether displeased to see her crest lowered, and her boasted Pal- 
metto in the dust. But the question for us to settle, is whether 
we ought to gratify such an improper feeling, and whether, after 
having now for years talked about our rights, and our readiness 
to maintain them, we should slink out of the issue, because, for- 
sooth, other States, equally interested with ourselves, may have 
come to the conclusion that submission is security. 

Why, if we must be humbled in the end before the power of 
this Ben-hadad ; let it be in the end. Let it only be after we 
have endured everything that a people can endure, rather than 
submit to deliberate usurpation. 

South-Carolina should learn a lesson from the conduct of this 
usurping Syrian. Not content with Ahab's homage — he gath- 
ered his host together and besieged Samaria. " Thy silver and 
thy gold is mi?ie,^^ was his insulting message — ^^ihy loives also, 
and thy children, even the goodliest, are mineJ^ In vain does 
the terrified King of Israel reply in tones of deep submission : 
" My Lord, O King ! according to thy saying, lam thine, and 
all that 1 have." The messengers came again and said — " Thus 
speaketh Ben-hadad, saying. Although I have sent unto thee, 
saying, Thou shall deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, arid thy 



wives, and thy children : yet 1 will send my servants unto thee 
to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, 
and the houses of thy servants, and it shall be that whatsoever 
is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put in their hand and take 
it aicayJ' 

So, I solemnly believe, will it be with the South in the present 
contest. The more she yields, the more will be demanded. 

The purpose of the North, is to use the whole power of the 
Government for its own aggrandizement, and the destruction of 
an institution which we believe to be of vital importance to our 
welfare. Would then, that the result of the present Session of 
our General Assembly, might be like that recorded in the context. 

" And all the elders, and all the people, said unto him, 
(Ahab), Hearken not unto him (Ben-hadad,) vior consent J^ 

Another reason why I conceive South-Carolina should not 
be frightened into submission to the General Government is, 
that that Government is under influences confessedly luxurious, 
and a luxurious power is always more boastful than valiant. 

Thus was it with Ben-hadad, — " And it came to pass, luhen 
Ben-hadad heard this message, as he luas drinking, he and 
the Kings in the Pavilions, that he said unto his servants, set 
yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against 
the city. Nor did their boastfulness and intemperance cease 
even after the divinely directed King of Israel had marshalled 
his little host of seven thousand against them. 

" And they (the Israelites) went out at noon. But Ben-ha- 
dad was drinking himself drunk in the Pavilions, he and the 
Kings, the thirty and tvjo Kings that helped him,. And the 
young men of the Princes of the Provinces loent out first ; 
and Ben-haded sent out and they told him, saying-^ There are 
men come out of Samaria. And he said, whether they come 
for peace take them alive, or whether they come for war take 
them Oliver 

But the result was not such as the haughty debauchee ex- 
pected. 

" So these young men of the Princes of the Provinces came 
out of the city, and the army lohich followed them. And they 
slew every one his man, and the Syrians fled : and Israel pur- 
sued them ; and Ben-hadad, the King of Syria, escaped on 
an horse loiih the horsemenP 



10 

It is not for me to speak evil of dignities, or to condescend to 
personalities from this sacred place, — but I may be pardoned 
for expressing the opinion that the powers that be at Washing- 
ton, are not of that hardy, energetic, warlike stamp, whose 
threats are to be dreaded as the unerring preludes to execution. 
Epicures do not usually evince either courage or strength. It 
is not every Sadanapalus, who turns out to be a hero. Before 
paper blockades, and the accidental reinforcements of the gar- 
risons in her harbor, can frighten South- Carolina into submis- 
sion, her oppressors must learn something of Marion's dinner. 
Luxurious as the age is, the scenes of the Revolution will be 
re-enacted, ere the single Palmetto be uprooted, and her right 
to independence or equality be abandoned. 

But those who know most of the General Government, do 
not hesitate to charge it with gross corruption ; and when has 
a corrupt Government proved itself competent to such a task as 
the subjugation of South-Carolina, in a case like this ? Gold 
and not steel, is the metal such a Government uses, and I 
confess I dread more the United States' treasury than its armo- 
ry. Those who stiffen their nerves against force, melt under a 
golden shower. The patronage of Government has seduced 
but too many whose virtue seemed immaculate, and I tremble 
for our commonwealth lest she too may encounter the blighting 
smiles of Executive favor, and shame, burning shame — the 
shame of having sold herself for money, be smirched upon her 
brow, and that of her sons. 

Better, far better, that in proud and honest poverty, she gave 
her children to the sword, and her soil to her slaves, and her 
ports to the pirate, and her mansions to the owls and the bats, and 
her civilization and refinement and religion to barbarism, than 
that she permit herself to be bought by the fascinating but 
fatal bribe of a corrupt and corrupting Government. 

Such, then, are some of the reasons why I would have the 
Legislature of South-Carolina withstand every influence that 
may be brought to bear against her from the seat of the Gene- 
ral Government, and reply to those who, elated by the success 
of the combined influence of their proffered gold and their 
menacing steel elsewhere, have isolated her, and are counting 
upon her submission. — "Z/C^ not him that ^nrdeth on his har- 
ness boast himself as he that puiteth it off." 



11 

But it will not do to calculate on the weakness of an opponent. 
True, the General Government may be a usurper, and God may- 
resist such. True, it is dependent upon public sentiment, and 
public sentiment may be against the subjugation of a State, 
even South-Carolina. True, the Government may be exceed- 
ingly corrupt and under luxurious influences, and thus destitute 
of military energy. Still, it may 'be proper to touch briefly 
upon some points of our own inherent strength. 

We are unanimous. I mean not as to the time or mode of 
resistance. Many differ as to these ; but, that the State cannot 
and ought not to submit to the usurpations of the General Gov- 
ernment, is the deliberate sentiment of almost every citizen who 
is at all identified with her welfare. Even those who would 
regard separate State-action as unwise, and still hope for the 
co-operation of the other Southern States, are ready to stand by 
the decision of the General Assembly at all hazards ; and should 
the young men in that body, who are naturally impatient of 
delay, take measures for placing the State at once upon her in- 
dividual sovereignty, there are, so far as I am informed, few 
even of the oldest and most cautious, who will not cordially 
co-operate, as, indeed, by their allegiance, they are bound to do, 
in sustaining her, under any circumstances that may ensue. 

A unanimity like this, when wielding a Government regu- 
larly organized, with a sword, with a purse, with a Constitution 
and Laws, with a Judiciary, with, above all, a righteous cause, 
cannot but be formidable to such an Administration as that at 
Washington, cannot but be respectable every where, except in 
the eyes of such of her enemies, or, alas, such of her sons, as 
hope to ridicule her into submission by laughing at her weak- 
ness. Weakness is not always contemptible. Nay, it is only 
so, when unsupported by moral strength. It is far more repu- 
table to be overcome in a struggle for the maintenance of rights, 
than to succumb solely from fear. 

The righteousness of our cause is an element of strength 
never to be lost sight of. It must be clear, whatever specula- 
tive notions any one may have as to the moral influence of 
slavery, that it is a fundamental institution of the Southern 
States, and that no Government on earth has the slightest right 
to meddle with it, either directly or indirectly. To attempt to 



12 

take away one's property because it consists in human beings, 
is as unrighteous an act as to rob him of any thing else. God, 
who, we conceive, has set a sacred guard around property, has 
been as careful, in his revealed code of guidance for human con- 
duct, to prevent depredations and injuries upon that species of 
property which consists in persons, as in that consisting in 
things. One may think it questionable to hold a particular kind 
of property ; but if it be legalized by the Constitution and 
laws, to deprive another of it illegally, is an iniquitous act, for 
which the disapprobation of God, and of all good men, may be 
expected. Now, it is against this course of proceeding that the 
Southern States are contending. Not only are efforts made in 
the halls of Congress itself to degrade them in a moral point of 
view, but the power of the Government is brought to bear against 
them, by excluding them from the common territory ; and thus 
the political equilibrium between the Northern and the South- 
ern States has been destroyed. Even some of the most liberal 
of the Northern statesmen have avowed their settled purpose 
not to extend the area of slavery by admitting any more slave 
States into the Union ; so that this interest is doomed, if such a 
policy is acquiesced in, to a settled minority, in a Government, 
where the majority are bent upon its destruction. In such a 
controversy, the righteousness of our cause should sustain us. 

But it is apparent to those who know our people, that they 
are ready to sutfer extremities rather than yield. It may be, 
that the business men of the city have not ftdly prepared them- 
selves for the commercial and other perplexities that may follow 
in the train of secession; but the mass of the people seem re- 
solved to endure any pecuniary losses, any inconveniences, and 
encounter any dangers, rather than finally submit. If those 
who control the public affairs of the Federal Government, had 
any idea of the deep and settled purpose in the minds of almost 
every freeman in the State to carry out this quarrel to the utter- 
most, they would see that the subjugation of such a people was 
out of the question. We are no semi-barbarians, who have to 
be restrained by force from the wild excesses of ferocity, and 
subdued into the decencies of civilization. We are no propa- 
gandists of new and dangerous systems of government and 
society, who must be prevented by the strong hand of power 



13 

from upturning the foundations of social order, to establish our 
vague theories. We are no Mexican braggarts, who must be 
taught to respect the laws of nations by the last resort of sover- 
eigns. Nor are we Hungarian or Irish insurgents, who have 
risen up in spasmodic desperation to hurl off a union which 
though constitutional, is felt to be galling. But we are a free, 
sovereign and independent State — a State which achieved its 
title to self-government by the sword ; and which has main- 
tained that title unimpaired and undisputed. We are a people 
not undistinguished by intelligence, wealth, refinement and 
piety. We were born, and are still, the proprietors of African 
slaves, in the ownership of whom we are protected not only by 
our own laws, but the laws of the Federal Union, and those of na- 
tions. And all that we ask for, is to be let alone. All that we 
demand of the General Government is, that we be not prevented 
from carrying our property with us, into any part of the com- 
mon territory — and that if any of our slaves escape into the 
neighboring States, they be promptly restored to us. Less 
than this, cannot satisfy us. And if it be withheld, all that we 
do is, to resume those powers, which for general purposes we 
delegated to the Government, and secede from a Union which 
is dangerous rather than beneficial, inimical rather than bro- 
therly. 

Our capacity to persevere in a course of independence, will 
scarcely be questioned, by any acquainted either with our past 
history, or our present and yet to be developed resources. The 
Federal Union, which has built up other States, has, perhaps, 
retarded the growth of South-Carolina. We have not been 
the favorites of the General Government, Commerce, which 
is essential to our success, by atfording a market for our staples, 
has been for the last thirty- four years shackled by that Govern- 
ment. So that we have been taxed not only as consumers, but 
as producers. From the foreign manufacturers, who are our 
natural allies, because they must have our cotton, we have been 
cut off by the operation of imposts for the benefit of the North, 
and in the whole system of general affairs, especially in the vast 
and extensive schemes of internal improvement, our Constitu- 
tional scruples have been no more respected, and our interests 
no more regarded, than if we had been out of the Union. 



14 

It is the settled conviction of some of our soundest and most 
judicious citizens, that our prosperity would be enhanced by 
separation from a Government which is only felt in its burdens. 
True, we could not at once expect that dignified position abroad, 
which belongs to a great and distinguished nation; but we 
should have what is better, self-respect and contentment at home. 
We should manage our own affairs, without the impertinent 
molestation of those whose object is to deprive us of our char- 
tered rights. 

The persuasion that the cause not only of religion but of civ- 
ilization and humanity will be furthered by our resistance to the 
General Government, should restrain us from succumbing. Give 
the Abolitionists their wish, and religion will not only suffer, 
but civilization be retarded, and the negroes themselves involved 
in calamities that would end in a relapse to utter barbarism. 
We claim for the institution of Southern slavery, that it has 
done more for the religious, social and physical condition of the 
African race, than has ever been done in the same space of 
time by any other institution, for any other nation. In less than 
two centuries, three millions of them now living — to say nothing 
of the dead — have been brought into a state of at least nominal 
Christianity; have been made familiar with the business of ag- 
riculture and many of the useful mechanic arts; have been 
placed in contact with all the usages and benefits of civilization ; 
have been fed, clothed, housed, and healed with a degree of 
constancy and comfort, that surpasses that of the peasantry of al- 
most every part of the world ; and are multiplying with a rapid- 
ity which attests their wholesome condition. This being the 
fruit of African slavery in the Southern States, judge whether 
those States ought not to withstand the visionary and incohe- 
rent schemes of those who would attempt they know not what, 
and pull down, in a moment, institutions which, with many de- 
fects, like all things human, have ^^et, under the operation of 
Divine Providence been instrumental in an immense deal of 
true, substantial good. To the xlbolitionists, at least, if not to 
the General Government; to these newly raised friends of the 
negro, who would either entice him away from his owner, or 
stir him up to insubordination, we may well say, in the lan- 
guage of Ahab to Bcn-hadad, ^'Lci not him that girdeth on his 
harness boast himself as he that putteth it off?^ 



15 

The passage, however, should also be applied to ourselves 
in the way of caution. Let us beware of boastfulness. Those 
who use strong words, find it often difficult to make them good 
by strong deeds — and a brave spirit would always rather have 
his performance outstrip his promise. Doubtless it is one of 
the faults which we should confess this day — that as a com- 
monwealth, we have talked too much and too strongly on 
the subject, unless we intended to do more. If any think 
that in the remarks now made, there has been a tincture of 
boastfulness. Let it be. I am ready to confess and repent of 
everything, except the solemn, steadfast purpose to say what it 
seemed to me right and proper to say. 

At all times, but especially at a crisis like this, we should 
avoid a reliance upon human means. They are to be used, 
but not relied on. We ought to be prepared to meet physical 
force, with physical force ; but the God of Truth, Righteousness 
and Peace should be our dependence. 

Pretexts of all kind should be avoided at present, especially 
such as affect our relations to our co-States of the South. When 
we tell them that we feel inco?npetent or unwilling to lead in this 
opposition to the General Government, they do not believe us; and 
they ought not to believe us, for we are the proper leaders in such 
a contest. We have been in it before single-handed, nay with- 
out the aid of a large part of our ablest and best men ; yet we 
gained our point. We broke down the tariff. We hurled de- 
fiance at the head of the Great Captain of the country, with 
the whole force of the Union at his disposal. We declared 
"null and void" — and it has been, and is, and will continue to be, 
''null and void," within the hmits of South-Carolina — the odious 
force bill. And we passed forth from the struggle, unstained 
not only by blood, but by intolerance. No Union-man suffered 
any proscription at the hands of the State. Many of them held 
then, and continue to hold, her highest offices. Let us not then, 
with a well-meaning, but affected modesty, shrink from the po- 
sition, of moving first in this great Southern contest. We have 
been willing to follow our co-States of the South, though they 
would not follow us. But if they all decline leading— what 
then? Shall we submit.? Shall we acquiesce? Shall we 
give up the contest? Never, never. 



16 

In times like these, all underhanded policy should be laid 
aside. The people, in the main, arc always honest, and they 
like plain, honest deahng. There should be little or no hold- 
ing back from them of what is proposed to be done. Nothing 
is so distasteful to the greater part of the community as the appear- 
ance of a double game. Of couise there is a proper degree of 
prudence to be observed in the conduct of all affairs, which 
would prevent them from being defeated by general publicity ; 
but notbing so often baffles itself, as craftiness ; for when once 
detected, it is always aftei- wards suspected, and both public and 
private confidence, so essential to success, are forever with- 
drawn. 

An undue deference to the opinions of their leaders ought to 
be avoided by the people at the present crisis. To a certain 
extent, those who are appointed to control, ought to be follow- 
ed; but there is a limit; and leaders should be glad to have 
their views modified by those of their constituents. It has al- 
ways seemed to me, alike creditable to South-Carolina and to 
her great departed statesman, that they agreed to differ on many 
points of public policj/^, by no means unimportant. He never 
attempted to change the sentiments of the State, nor she his, 
but each honored and respected the other notwithstanding the 
difference. So should it always be. A leadership, which re- 
quires an entire surrender of their views and wishes, on the 
part of others, is too exacting and inconvenient to be lasting. 

I have thus, dear friends, with the utmost frankness, given 
you my views upon the present crisis in the affairs of the com- 
monwealth. Let me end by reminding you, what I have sel- 
dom failed doing in season and out of season, — that to be pre- 
pared for the trying circumstances in which you may be placed ; 
for the excitement of passions ; for the endurance of hardships ; 
for the losses of property, or of relatives and friends ; or for the 
sacrifice of life itself, which may be involved in the issue ; 
your only true and abiding security, is to have faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, as your Redeemer, your King, your Friend, and 
your God. 



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